The562’s football coverage for the 2026-27 school year is sponsored by Long Beach Poly alums Wendell “WoWo” Moe, Jr. & Tyson Ruffins.
The562’s coverage of Cabrillo Athletics is sponsored by the Cohn Family.
It was a historic night on the Westside as the Cabrillo football team won a wild, late-night thriller against Compton Centennial that didn’t wrap until after 10:30pm. The Jaguars’ win was their third of the year, the most they’ve had in a season since 2016, and also means they’re 1-0 in the Hub City League after their first-ever game in the new league.
It looked like the Jaguars would cruise to an easy one as they got out to a big lead early before eventually winning a back-and-forth wild one, 33-28.
“I liked our perseverance, we just kept going, we just kept playing, and we made enough plays to survive their rally,” said Jags coach Malcolm Manuel. “We did a good job, two games in a row we were tested at the end and we held up.”
The Jaguars opened up a 20-0 lead in the first quarter as QB Fernando Leanos hit Danny Lopez, Armon Lumpkin, and Lumpkin again on a 55-yard touchdown pass to take a three-score lead. Centennial never quit, however, and scored twice before halftime to cut the lead to 20-13. A Cabrillo turnover set up the go-ahead touchdown early in the second half for the Apaches as they converted a two-point conversion to take a 21-20 lead.
The Jags immediately scored on their next possession however as Leanos hit Zyair Hughes to retake the lead. The Jaguars forced a fumble on the next Apaches possession but couldn’t punch it in after driving to the five. Anthony McKinney cut short the next Centennial drive with an interception, and this time the Jags made them pay as Leanos threw his fifth touchdown of the night, this one again to Lumpkin to make it 33-21.
Once again, Centennial battled their way back into it, scoring with 3:36 left to cut the lead to 33-28.
At that point there was a turn in the evening’s proceedings. The Jaguars got a first down as Lumpkin converted on 4th and 4, with about 2:00 left. They ran one play, which went out of bounds, and then kneeled it twice. Because the down marker box was broken, officials on both sides of the field were keeping the down and distance–there was a discrepancy between the two sides, which meant that after Cabrillo’s second kneel-down, the ball was awarded to Centennial with 19 seconds remaining.
“The ref on our side had it as third down, we thought it was third down, our side judge told us it was third down and he told the white hat it was third down,” said Manuel. “They made us get one more stop to make it exciting. My biggest thing would just be, be on the same page as referees. It was a good treat for the people who came out, it was exciting.”
Leanos had a bonkers stat line, going 21/44 for 390 yards and five touchdowns and an interception.
“We got the win but I’m glad that’s over,” said Leanos. “All the questionable calls really shifted momentum. We handled their defense better than I expected…it feels great because it’s our third win and we haven’t done that since 2016. It’s a lot of history that we’ve been doing this year and it’s big to get our first win in our new league.”
Lumpkins had seven catches for 161 yards and three scores while Hughes had six catches for 107 yards and a score and pulled in several third or fourth down conversion receptions.
Manuel couldn’t have been much happier after the game, describing himself as his team’s “biggest fan.”
“The way they’ve played this entire year has been very impressive,” he said of his senior class. “They’ve adopted the role of being leaders and they’ve been through it all. A couple of them when we came in, they could have gone elsewhere. I’m happy for them, I’m excited–they’re excited, this side of town’s excited, it’s a good time. It’s a great time right now.”
Cabrillo (3-4, 1-0) will visit Compton next week while Compton Centennial (5-3, 1-1) will have a bye before facing Compton.
